Lin Zexu’s Letter to Queen Victoria, 1839
Background info: Lin Zexu was the Chinese official in charge of stopping the British from selling opium in China. In 1839 he wrote
this letter (below is an excerpt) to Queen Victoria, trying to get her support for his task. The Opium War began in 1840.
Dear Your Royal Highness Queen Victoria,
…You have traded in China for two hundred years, and as a result, your country has become wealthy. But after this
long period of trade, there appear among the crowd of barbarians both good persons and bad. There are those who
smuggle opium to seduce the Chinese people and cause the spread of the poison to all provinces. Such persons who
only care to profit themselves, and disregard their harm to others, are not tolerated by Chinese law and are hated.
His Majesty the Emperor, upon hearing of this, is in a towering rage. He has especially sent me to come to
[Guangzhou]…to investigate and settle this matter.
The law [in China] calls for the death penalty for people who sell opium or smoke opium. Those barbarians who
through the years have been selling opium, then the deep harm they have caused, and the great profit they have
made, should justify their execution according to law. Fortunately we have received a specially extended favor from
His Majesty the Emperor, who considers that for those who voluntarily surrender there are still some circumstances
to pardon their crime, and so for the time being he has magnanimously excused them from punishment. But as for
those who again violate the opium prohibition, it is difficult for the law to pardon them repeatedly.
The wealth of China is used to profit the barbarians. That is to say, the great profit made by barbarians is all taken
from the rightful share of China. By what right do they then in return use the poisonous drug to injure the Chinese
people? Even though the barbarians may not necessarily intend to do us harm, but in wanting profit, they have no
regard for injuring others. Let us ask, where is your conscience? I have heard that the smoking of opium is very
strictly forbidden by your country; that is because the harm caused by opium is clearly understood. Since it is not
permitted in your own country, then even less should you let it be passed on to harm other countries.
Is there a single article from China which has done any harm to foreign countries? Take tea, for example; the
foreign countries cannot get along for a single day without them. Moreover the textiles of foreign countries cannot
be woven unless they obtain Chinese silk. If China cuts off these beneficial exports, what profit can the barbarians
expect to make? There is also ginger, cinnamon, and so forth, and articles for use, beginning with silk, satin,
chinaware, which foreign countries want from China. On the other hand, articles coming from the outside to China
can only be used as toys. We can take them or get along without them. Since they are not needed by China, what
difficulty would there be if we closed our frontier and stopped the trade?
Anyone who dares again attempt to plant and manufacture opium should be severely punished. This will really be a
great, benevolent government policy that will get rid of evil. For this, Heaven must support you and the spirits must
bring you good fortune, prolonging your old age and extending your descendants. All will depend on this act.
Now we have set up regulations governing the Chinese people. He who sells opium shall receive the death penalty
and he who smokes it also the death penalty. Now consider this: if the barbarians do not bring opium, then how
can the Chinese people resell it, and how can they smoke it? The fact is that the wicked barbarians beguile the
Chinese people into a death trap.
The Emperor cannot bear to execute people without having first tried to reform them by instruction. Therefore he
enacts these fixed regulations. The barbarian merchants of your country, if they wish to do business for a prolonged
period, are required to obey our statues respectfully and to cut off permanently the source of opium.
May you, O King, check your wicked people before they come to China, in order to guarantee the peace of your
nation, to show further the sincerity of your politeness and submissiveness, and to let the two countries enjoy
together the blessings of peace! After receiving this dispatch will you immediately give us a prompt reply regarding
the details and circumstances of your stopping the opium traffic.
Yours sincerely,
Lin Zexu, Commissioner of the Celestial Empire (China)
Name: ____________
Outline for in-class writing assignment
The Queen’s letter responding to Lin Zexu
Your Majesty’s Response…
Assignment: Imagine that you are Queen Victoria and have just received Lin Zexu’s letter. Write a response to Lin
as Queen Victoria, keeping in mind the British point of view, while still addressing Lin’s demands.
Your goal is to try and avoid immediate military force as a response and take a more diplomatic direction.
As queen, you must lay out your response reflecting Britain’s interests, but also show that you understand Lin’s
demands by mentioning and responding to examples from his letter.
You will write your letter in class on Tuesday.
Requirements: Your letter must contain the following for full points!!!
a. A brief summary of the opium situation between China and Britain, demonstrating as Queen that you
understand the problem that Lin Zexu discusses in his letter.
b. Declare your action/response/solution as Queen Victoria.
c. Describe how your action/response/solution will be carried out. Expectations, rules, etc…
d. What if it doesn’t work? Then what? Describe your follow-up action if solution or response is
unsuccessful.
Homework: Your homework is to write an outline for your letter below. You may not write past the lines.
I.
Opening paragraph: __________________________________
______________________________________________________________
a. The problem: ________________________
b. Your plan: __________________________
II.
Second paragraph first sentence: __________________________________
______________________________________________________________
a. Main Point: ________________________
b. Main Point: _______________________
c. Main Point:________________________
III.
Third paragraph first sentence: __________________________________
______________________________________________________________
a. Main Point ________________________
b. Main Point: _______________________
c. Main Point:________________________
IV.
Fourth paragraph first sentence: __________________________________
______________________________________________________________
a. Main Point ________________________
b. Main Point: _______________________
c. Main Point:________________________
V.
Closing paragraph: __________________________________
______________________________________________________________
a. Restate (rephrase) the problem: ________________________
b. Restate your plan: _______________________
Name: ______________
PRIMARY SOURCE ANALYSIS
1. TYPE of document (article, book, letter, speech, etc):
2. DATE of document (approximate):
3. What’s the HISTORICAL CONTEXT of the document (What was going on at the time? How does the
document relate to historical events or trends)?
4. The AUTHOR and anything you know about him or her (class, gender, race, job, nationality, political
leanings, etc.):
-Is there any evidence in the document supporting what you know about the author? If so, what?
5. For what AUDIENCE was this doc written? Why do you think this?
6. WHY do you think the author wrote this doc? (What was s/he trying to accomplish?)
7. What EVIDENCE in the doc supports your explanation for #6? Provide a quote or paraphrase:
8. List at least 2 things that the doc tells us about life in this society:
9. What are some questions that this doc doesn’t answer?
10. What would you like to ask the author?